Smith: Saukville angler's first musky one for all-time

Dave Grisar of Saukville finally checked “musky” off his bucket list after decades of trying, landing a muskie trip on Oct. 7 at Green Bay. The 53-year-old hooked the fish on a family vacation years earlier but lost it when it wrapped around a snag and broke off, and even after becoming a dentist he still hadn’t caught Wisconsin’s state fish. He later hired Capt. Nolan Koepp of Nolan’s Top Gun Charters in Port Washington for targeted musky trips. Green Bay’s history includes muskie reintroduction efforts beginning in 1989 after overfishing and habitat loss, with stocking supporting a fishery that shows very little natural reproduction. DNR data cited 205,986 large fingerlings and 41,533 yearlings stocked since 1989, including 15,995 large fingerlings in 2024, and three state record musky releases in early 2025.